Not all it is cracked up to be... - 4/3/2009

We've now been here five years, moved from MA. At first it was great, the life without snow and cold. After a few years of the same weather it gets kind of boring. Christmas is just weird! I don't think I could ever get use to that. Although I would never want to deal with the harsh New England weather again, I would like a climate somewhere in between the two extremes. Also the traffic and drivers down here are crazy, as well as the snowbirds. Not exactly a safe place to raise kids as there are 138 registered offenders within miles of my house. Some things to consider before coming.I wish I had thought of these things before we moved but it was kind of we had to move and this sounded like a great place on the computer. Of coarse every cities web page tells you how great they are. Hopefully we will find the right place for us soon!

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2000 waterfront homes for sale - 12/22/2008

Cape Coral is one of the Florida cities hardest hit by the foreclosure mess. As a result, property values have fallen to the level where you can now buy a home on a saltwater canal for roughly the same price it formerly cost to buy a condo-slip for your boat. The Cape is a very nice place to live, but especially if you have a boat. There are properties available from condos to palaces in gated communities. I recently bought a canal side duplex for 80K.

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index - 6/18/2008

The median house price has changed dramatically since '07 It is now 135,000

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Cape Coral's Lifestyle - 5/14/2008

Cape Coral is a man made place, and not convenient, in my opinion, to people who are "city types". It's a large area, much of which is undeveloped and now with the housing crisis, vacant homes. I live in the SW part of the Cape and it's by far the best area (upscale). There are parts and properties of Cape Coral (unit 64) which have deep water direct access to the Gulf that seem to have held there value and still don't have much crime. There's no upscale department stores in the SW parts of the Cape and no plans that I know of in the future. Cape Coral generally remains a blue collar and place in many areas although the housing boom made some impressively sized homes in other parts. The schooling system doesn't seem to spur enough people into going on for further education. The school's here in the Cape don't seem to have great expectations, great communication skills and as a result the students don't come out with great skills. We have a lot of churchs with, according to one church here, a growing Latino population. Health food stores in SW cape are nearly non existant. Health food stores here don't mean organic fresh veggies so much as bottles of supplements and other shelf products. If you're not into the conveniences of a city life, enjoy gettting away from it all, boating and beautiful skies then this is for you. While we have many canals to romance newcomers there are not long beaches on the Gulf Of Mexico from the Cape. It's more a place for boaters on the Gulf, really. I speak for the SW area of the Cape since that's where I live. Other parts include a Home Depot, Lowes and even a Kohl's recently added (it's supposed to be good). There's a Costco in Fort Myers about 20 minutes away (not IN the Cape here). I go there for the best food.

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Taxes - 3/28/2008

Three years ago we moved to Florida, specifically Cape Coral, looking for a warmer climate, wanted to be close to the water and thought that cost of living would be cheaper than Northern Virginia. We did accomplish our first two wishes, but how wrong were we regarding cost of living. While Florida does not have State taxes, the real estate taxes are extremely high and actually are more than what we were paying in Northern Virginia, including State tax.

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Living in Cape Coral - 3/8/2008

Cape Coral is a beautiful area of SW Florida. It is a bit confusing due to the grid layout of the streets, but the beauty of the area is worth a minor confusion.

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we are on the market again - 3/3/2008

Beatifull city, with lot of potential.Homes prices has been comming down and i think we reach the bottom already.you can by home like lates in 90' and 2000.We have lot of homes less tan 100k and low's and mid 100's wating for the baby bummers.taxes are comming drastically down and the city is becomming really afforable,there are lot of commercial construction and new road and development going on right now.There are no need to look for a house in texas or the Carolinas ,ugly weather.Welcome to the sunchine state were the sun is out again for those who thought never was going to afford to buy a house or vacation home in Florida after the Real Estate Bum. Now is you second chance and even better , Home,taxes and insurance are cheaper now.

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Maybe now we can get our Quality of Life Back - 2/4/2008

We moved here 15 years ago and started our own business. It has been a great place to raise our family and we have made some wonderful friends and neighbors. Those who are complaining the most now are those who moved here in the past five years with the so-called boom and have been living above their means. They have minimal jobs and education and thought this was going to be the "promised land". Do we have problems like insurance and taxes just like the rest of Florida? Absolutely, but this is a good place to live for those who want to work, raise a family and contribute to society. Not those looking for a free ride.

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I'm from Wisconsin, NOTHING is better here! - 1/14/2008

You should feel lucky not to live in Wisconsin. All the complaints I hear about Cape Coral are invalid. Here is what you get in Wisconsin: Mid October to Mid April = HIGH Temperatures UNDER 32 you'll get at least 7 days a year with temps under NEGATIVE 5 Mid June to Late August = TEMPS near 90 with 90% humidity (the only time Florida MIGHT be worse) Tons of bugs, just like Florida (Basically you'll want to stay in your house 9 months out of the year) 1500 sq. ft house 3BR 1.5BA on 1/4 acre = $250,000 Taxes on that house = $5500 2nd highest gas tax in the country Average Utility bill = $235 STATE INCOME TAX = ~10% Job market = slightly better than Florida depending on where you live. Schooling - much better than Florida, but getting worse by the day Rude depressed people everywhere, that's why we have the most bars/person in the country. If you need any more information to make you realize you don't have it so bad, please let me know. So stop complaining about your life in Florida, it could be worse...you could be living in Wisconsin.

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forclousures - 8/8/2007

Rising on forclousure in cape coral is becouse the lack of employment and the unability of the city of creating an strong economic base able to keep jobs open or generate more jobs.With the slow down of real estate on this market and no new construction most people that make their living out of it had to return to were they came from you name it , back to miami ,new jersey, new york... or other big cities leaving behing their home in to forclousure becouse they can find a job to make mortages payment and make a living, also to this situation raising property taxes 300% and utility expantion costing home owner between 20k to 30k for this utilities belive it or not. From being one of the fastest growing cities and 50% appreciation now is the fastest in depreciation and higher number of forclousures with more vacancies that you can see for sale and for rent all over the city becoming from being a nice city to a ghost city pretty much. If you know somebody or some institution that can put on the line the way this city handle the city funds and what they are doing to help the people that live there please we need helpppppppppppppppppppppppppp. sorry for my english but this feeling is all over the pleace and please help if you can.

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Cape Life - 7/28/2007

I have lived in Cape Coral for more than 10 years now. It has grown tremendously! Quite CApe COral has become very busy. I have a 9 year old son and he really enjoys his schooling and extracurricular activities that the Cape offers. The weather is obviously HOT all the time...but it is SWFL. The cost of living is getting to be ridiculous. Housing is starting to go down, but the more research I do, the more I realize we pay more for everything from gas to milk down here. Although I have no complaints about our local schools, our state has just been ranked 48th for education! (not a good thing). Crime is going up, values are going down, and the roads are getting busier. It is a nice place to be if you are upper middle class without the normal costs of living worries. Forus...it's time to move.

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Hot and humid most of the year; winters not bad - 7/5/2007

High humidity and 90+ degree temperatures in the summer. Rarely is there a breeze to cool us off in the summer. Most of the rainfall occurs between June and August. Rainfall is almost daily during the summer. We see some cooler days in the winter but some humid and warm days still sneak in there. Rarely do we see any rain in the winter. Florida would be a much nicer place if the winters lasted longer. Winter is our tourist season due to the weather here and in the north. Some people have been unfortunate with the past hurricanes we have seen. Most of us had some tree damage but remain with our homes intact. If you like Southern California's moderate and dry climate or the west's dry and hot conditions, Florida may not be your place.

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If you thought Florida was cheap.... - 5/30/2007

Think again.I moved here 3 yrs ago from LI NY. The cape has large job growth - on paper. I have yet to see. I have to go into Ft. Myers to work. Jobs are not so bad- I am just use to the abundence there was on the island. The weather here IS Beautiful. But everything else could use work. House prices are high in a buyers market. And when the houses don't sell they go up for rent shortly after. There are aleast 2-3 houses on each block for sale. Jobs don't pay very much. The seniors keep the pay wages down. (why pay someone more when you know you can pay less) Home owener is OUTRAGOUS! Ins cos are dropping people left and right. and the new fees are 3xs as much. I got dropped cause I have a dog. Never put a claim in and paid on time. Thats the thanks I get. Any how, crime is low, but drug houses are high. Oh, and there are no trees. If your coming from the North, or I guess anywhere, thats the first thing you'll notice. Makes me really miss the northern woods.

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Got to get out of here! - 5/5/2007

Cape Coral was so beautiful and a wonderful place to live for many years. It is now almost impossable to imagine the changes the real estate and government people have brought about due to their greed! Cost of living here is 134% of the national average. One quarter of the homes here are for sale, another quarter are being rented due to the hard sales market. Repos' are at an all time high. Crime is on par for white color but higher in blue collar crime. City is run by OLD people who think the younger people know nothing. City meetings are held to early in the day for the younger working family people to participate. I believe that is deliberate!! I'm not young but have no desire to stay and hope for change! I'M OUTTA HERE!

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retired - 3/29/2007

theweather here in the winter is nice. It is cool at night 50's to 60's and warm during the day mid 70's. Even if it gets to the 40's at night by 11a-12 noon it is in the high 60's to low 70's. I am not here during the summer months.

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Life in Paradise ??? Yea right ! - 3/25/2007

Big city run by real estate people. Elected officials have not a clue of the real world. They appear to be run by wealthy retirees, and developers. No idea of the real problems of raising a family on a decent wage. They are forcinbg the middle income people to seek financial releif outside this area!

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Unreal! - 1/11/2007

Unreal insurance,taxes,poor education,housing prices....grt me out of here!

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Growing population - 12/29/2006

good schools, pretty homes, typical Florida climate, Buyer's market for real estate - Kathy Antrilli - Realtor

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disabled - 9/20/2006

I live in a state that is as hot a the underworld.

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easy going - 8/31/2006

easy going lifestyle. crime rate way bellow national average.

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